One of my springtime rituals

Tags

Bishop's weed, perennial, postaday2015, weeding

    

Every springtime like clock work, I weed out my Bishop’s weed, if you look at the top of the second picture, there is a small patch of the weed, that no matter how aggressively I weed it out, every spring it pops up yet again. The top picture is a stock picture, but it could easily be one from my backyard if I didn’t do anything to keep the Bishop’s weed at bay.

I googled controlling Bishop’s weed and what I found surprised me, the Bishop weed is medicinal! It was used to treat digestive issues, psoriasis, kidney stones, angina and asthma. Its chemical properties include methoxsalen which is now prepared in laboratories, but prior to the lab, methoxsalen was rendered from the weed itself. Between the herbs that I plant each year and my other perennials I have a natural pharmacy right here in my backyard; I think that is pretty darn cool. I don’t have any birch growing on my property but all I have to do is walk to the park and I could either get some Willow tree bark or White Birch bark and whip up some aspirin. lol

Tragically for us, we have lost much of the medicinal lore practiced by many indigenous people because of deforestation, land grabs and forced tribal removal. We have decimated so many native populations and their culture that we have obliterated much wisdom, how short-sighted can we be? It is such a shame that we treat the old ways, the old lore and traditions as something to be thrown away and forgotten or even neglected. It is such a shame. 

I did my bamboo in today

Tags

bamboo, bane of my existence, Bishop's weed, garden, postaday2013

Today I took all of my spare energy and took vengeance on the two banes of my existence in my garden; Bishop’s weed and bamboo. Both are weeds and unbelievable in their tenacious nature and survival mechanisms.

As you can see by the pictures, getting rid of the bamboo is a feat and a half, you really have to be as stubborn as the bamboo itself and the root system is just as tricky as the offshoots from beneath. The Bishop’s weed is just as guilty of a diabolical root system and offshoots as the bamboo. I don’t feel bad about tearing through and apart both of these weeds because as you can see from the other pictures, I have more than enough elsewhere. This weeding is a yearly project, if one tiny bit of either plant is left, you will be guaranteed the re-emergence of the weed. Still, it is so very therapeutic, in the same vein as writing is therapeutic.